Aluminium is one of the lightweight materials which is the principal necessity in many applications worldwide and is less luxurious than other light metals such as titanium and magnesium. With the increasing requirements of strength and toughness of aluminium castings, there is a huge demand to improve the mechanical properties of available aluminium alloys. It had been noticed and scientifically proved that when reinforced with other materials, properties of aluminium alloys will get enhanced. In this research work, an investigation was performed on cast-ability, microstructure and mechanical properties (hardness and impact strength) of a composite with LM6 alloy (Al–11.6% Si) as the matrix, and varying sizes and volume fractions of glass powder as the reinforcement. In this work, Al–Si metal matrix composites with soda–lime glass powder as reinforcement were produced using stir casting technique. Composites were produced with varying percentage of glass (1.5–4.5% by weight) as reinforcing particles. Commercially, available LM6 alloy (Al–11.6% Si) was selected as the matrix material. The composite produced has superior mechanical properties and it has been observed that the mechanical properties are improving with increase in the percentage of glass powder. The best distribution of glass in the matrix was when 3% glass of 125 µm particle size was reinforced. The microstructures of the developed LM6–glass composite were studied using optical microscopy. This work was part of the feasibility study performed as part of a new product development in armoured protection equipment by Mobile Land Systems LLC, South Africa. © 2019 Engineers Australia.